Pretty words, and aching words, and lonely words, and triumphant words. From tunesmiths and bards hailing from Athens, GA

This is a blog for sharing art of all kinds. If you're in or around Athens, GA and write poetry, songs, flash fiction, short stories, anything really and want to post, send your stuff to Shannon at shannonmcmorlandfoley@gmail.com or to Scott at lionoftheday@gmail.com.Photography and photographed artwork also welcome! Include a short bio and a pic if you want and any link to a personal website or blog you want to share.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Do I have more significance in life or death?
Will I be remembered if I die early
or forgotten if I live too long?
If we as a society value life with so much valor
why do we celebrate the ones who are gone?
and neglect the living, the poor, the unseen, ourselves
Television screens and Hollywood dreams do not represent the human spirit
They subtract and subtract until the minds of future generations will become hollow chamber to reverberate the lies of greed and lust; the American dream
But who's to say this isn't already us?
What if I do not wake up?
The question only breeds more
So I am not afraid to die and I know that is selfish,
but is dying not the most selfless of acts?
In a world overpopulated and undereducated
it is a challenge not to become a tool for unnecessary breeding and self-indulgence

I leave this world and am no longer able to carelessly consume its resources.
Can my final words influence those who are stronger and more self-aware than I?
Can they influence and guide to enlightenment. In an undiscriminating light of Christ, Buddha, or Sartre
Not all humans will see tomorrow's sun fall over the horizon.
Infants, teenagers, elderly, strong men and beautiful women; death has no senses.
Enjoy this life, every moment, and those you have to share it with
I was once, but am no longer

B: “I dunno...I guess I just like it out here. It's peaceful. What about you?”

A: “I'm trying to get away from the war.”

B: “Why go all the way to the desert?”

A: “Well, it's easier than the moon, and more effective than the library.”

B: “Ah. So basically, you just like it out here.”

A: “Yep.”

A: “Why is your hair so long?”

B: “Because I'm a girl.”

A: “Really?!”

B: “What?”

A: “Well...”

B: “What is it?”

A: “I've never seen a girl before.”

B: “Come on.”

A: “No, really! My Dad raised me and my brother after my mom died, when I was born. We lived in a basement until my Dad died; when I came up, I found a completely deserted town, just outside this desert.”

B: “Wow.”

B: “So what happened to your brother?”

A: “He died in the war.”

B: “Oh.”

A: “So what about you?”

B: “Huh?”

A: “What's your story?”

B: “Oh. I'm an only child. My Dad was one of the survivors from the Hammerhead.”

A: “No! The submarine?”

B: “Yeah, the submarine. He came home when I was sixteen. He was...disturbed. He would fidget with this little mini submarine all the time. My mom tried to help him, he yelled at her a lot. Me too. Then one day, my mom left.”

A: “I'm sorry.”

B: “It gets worse. My Dad killed himself a few days later. After that, I got a job as a grocery store clerk, I wrote poems on my breaks.”

A: “Christ, I'm sorry.”

B: “It's okay, I get along pretty well.”

A: “You're not going to kill me, are you?”

B: “Why would I do that?”

A: “Well, you know...”

B: “What?”

A: “Well, you being evil and all, and me—”

B: “Oh, that. Nah, I'm not gonna kill you.”

A: “Why not?”

B: “Because you're like me.”

A: “How so?”

B: “You like deserts.”

A: “Oh.”

A: “You promise?”

B: “No.”

A: “Well, I guess I'd better leave pretty soon.”

B: “Me too.”

A: “Why?”

B: “What?”

A: “What do you have to go back to?”

B: “Oh. I'm a soldier.”

A: “What!?”

B: “Oh, don't look so shocked.”

B: “Look, I'm sorry. You really bought the grocery store thing? Christ man, how many grocery stores do you see around here?”

B: “Well, I'm leaving now.”

A: “Why did you say, 'What are my choices'?”

B: “What?”

A: “When I asked you which side, why did you ask what your choices where.”

Friday, April 15, 2011

Walking into the empty house
she drops her keys onto the counter;
they send echoes into the corners
where she's been lonely all her life.
The clock ticking away on the wall
tells the story of her dreams.

And she wonders how hard it would be
to wrap her up in your arms
and fall inside her soft places,
telling her your everythings.

Her hands scarred with men's work
smooth the folds of her dress,
she looks out the window at the dying light.
All the words she holds inside
stagnate into a sigh
spilling into dishes in the kitchen sink.
Steam rises from the tap,
she plunges in her arms to scrape away
the grime that's been collected there.

And she wonders how hard it would be
to wrap your arms around her waist
and fall inside her soft places
letting her be your everything.

She wipes her face with the back of her palm
in the reflection of growing darkness,
remembering how beautiful she used to be
long before she knew what beautiful was.
Water drips onto the floor;
she runs the dishtowel over the pans
piling them into a shiny, clanging stack
ready to just be used again tomorrow.

And she wonders how hard it would be
to wrap her heart up tight
and fall inside her soft places
letting her forget everything.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

cripple monkey turn poor
lost lonely tie score
rage like a rifle
roll like the richer
remind the unions
what they are for
vicious nights bonding
stylish ladies launching
give me tablet
give me a shotgun
write out the process
kill em with song

did we have a feast
crazy yogi helpers
hallway to heaven
took a stairway before
needed to replicate
excess money to the fire
insane rude man
half a day with a liar
got what you deserved
made me laugh a lot
leak out into the pond
colors of the eyeball
naked in the song

honor the peers
respect all who do
i love these streams
open as wide as you wanna

Monday, April 11, 2011

Train horn awakening
through gauzy white curtains
on humid air.
And your hands
would slide down my thigh
to pull me into your sticky body.
We'd cover each other
in furry teethed kisses.
I'd tiptoe naked to the kitchen
to make coffee for us.
Birds would chirp in the grey light
as I poured milk into our cups.
And you'd tell me how beautiful I am,
that my body tells your story
of how you became a man.
You would drink me in,
your face held over the steam,
breathing deeply to start the day.
I'd laugh at you looking at me,
with that crazy laugh I have.
and you'd laugh with me.
We'd talk about the day ahead,
your hand would rest on mine,
the contours worn and familiar.
I'd send you off to the shower
with a smack on your ass.
You'd look back and smile.
We'd both wish you didn't
have to go to work and
I'd wriggle back under the covers,
deep down soul happy
for that Georgia morning train.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

“…so Arthur strode up to the sword, and, without troubling to read the inscription, tugged it free.”

Le Morte D’Arthur

I’m a magician, but I’m not the magician. The magician is someone like Houdini, or Howard Thurston, or for us, it was Tony Slydini.
One evening, a few years ago, me and a bunch of the other guys went downtown to this diner. Lots of magicians go there to hang out, exchange new tricks, and stuff like that.
We all went there because that’s where Slydini used to hang out. He had retired, but he was still the magician. He would come almost every night, sit at the same table in the corner, and he would leave really late, a lot later than any of us. Once in a while, one of us would show him some new trick we had, trying to fool him, but of course we never did.
Well, that one night, we were all sitting at our usual spot, a few tables away from Tony’s corner, and I hear the bell above the door ring, so I look over, and this kid walks in, maybe twelve or thirteen, a kid, and the screwy thing was, he was wearing a top hat, and a suit, and he looked for all the world like a magician, but one from years ago, when magicians actually dressed like that.
Now, this kid looks around for a minute, and then walks over to Tony’s corner. I’m watching—it’s hard to see, what with the waitress, and customers coming and going—but I can see him talking to Tony, and then he sits down.
“Guys, look at this,” I said, and everybody turned around to look. We could see the kid taking off his hat, and setting it bottom up on the table. Then he starts picking up some napkins…
“He’s doing magic!” I said.
“And you know what else?” one of the others said. “He’s doing ‘The Paper Balls in the Hat!’”
“He’s right!” I said.
“But that’s Tony’s trick!” somebody else said.
So, he finishes the trick, and Tony—Tony starts clapping!
“He must be doing good!” one of the guys said.
Then the kid takes something out of his pocket. We’re all watching as closely as we can, and someone says, “It’s a deck of cards,” and then, a little later, I say “He’s doing ‘The Helicopter Card!’” which is another Slydini trick. He does two more tricks: “Slydini’s One Coin Routine,” and “The Slydini Silks,” and we’re all laughing our heads off, but Tony and the kid don’t notice.
After the silks, the kid does one last trick. Now, right about now the place got really busy, so we really couldn’t see this one too well, but we all agreed on one thing: it had to be an original. We’re all professionals, and not one of us had ever seen anything like it; it was some kind of combination card and coin trick, and they kept jumping around.
I said what we were all thinking: “That’s a new one, isn’t it?”
After that, the kid stood up and bowed, and Tony clapped some more. He said something I couldn’t hear and gave the kid a buck, which went straight to the counter for an ice-cream soda. Tony got up, put on his coat, and walked right over to us, big smile on his face. He said, “Good evening, gentlemen,” in that beautiful Italian accent of his, and he left.
Well, we all rushed over to the counter, of course. We all threw questions at him at once, until he said, “What’s going on?” And I said, “Don’t you know who that was?”
“Who?”
“The guy you did magic for—that was Tony Slydini!”
The kid just sat there for a moment. Then he said “But all those tricks I did, they were all Slydini tricks, the paper balls, the helicopter card…” He looked over at the door. “That was Slydini?”
“Hey, was that last one an original?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah it’s mine…”
After a pause, somebody said “Well, did he like your trick?” And the kid said “Yeah he said he liked it…”
“And?”
“And then after he gave me a dollar, he said…” Then the kid got this big smile on his face.
“What did he say?!” we all shouted.
“He said, ‘By the way, how did you do that last one?’”

Friday, April 8, 2011

On the road i will find you
the one for my soul
out across the southern trail
up on our hills and under the rail
show me your face and
i will be scared to come too close
come and touch my hand
but careful because i am a magnet
for dark trouble and grand illusions

i got a house for molding
i got love for unfolding
too bad it got buried
but there is a map just dig in for love

can you read this list?
can you lift me up for us?
i need you to heat my heart
maybe it will sprout again
run down to the store and get us some fuel
forget the past of the pain i have ruled
if you can take it away i beg
hire a team of builders and start today
the foundation of trust i lost along the way